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About the course

A one year, full-time, school based route. Trainees will achieve QTS and be enrolled on a Masters Programme with the University of Derby for the award of PGCE. Training is majority school-based with some centre-based

training. Training occurs at various locations across Essex so we take into account your home address to try to keep travelling time to a minimum. You will receive training on the general aspects of successful teaching and training specifically aimed at preparing you to teach maths in primary.

In school you will work closely with a mentor and the ITT coordinator,

who will meet regularly with you to assist you with your training plan. You will also have an external tutor who works for Essex Teacher Training, who will visit you in school 5 times in the year to check on your progress towards meeting the Teachers' Standards.

The PGCE is delivered locally in Essex by the University of Derby and comprises 3 assignments, which are spread across the course of the year.

Trainees will have access to an online e-portfolio system and online resources along with face to face training sessions. These along with the excellent support from in-school mentors and tutors from Essex Teacher Training, will mean you will feel fully prepared for working in the classroom.

Your teaching load will start small and increase gradually as the year progresses. The rate at which this increases will be decided by you and your tutors and take into account any prior experience.

Assessment is via observations of you teaching, reflective pieces of writing and specific tasks relating to the different Teachers' Standards. You will be required to teach a greater amount of maths but you will be assessed as any other Primary trainee, across all aspects of the curriculum.

Interview process

You will be invited to an interview in the lead school. This interview will include: a presentation on an educational topic of your own choice; an activity with pupils eg. teaching part of a lesson, or taking a group activity; a written task and a formal interview with a small panel of representatives from the School Direct partnership. If successful, you will be given a conditional offer of a place to train.

How school placements work

Trainees will complete training in two different schools during the course of the year. Typically trainees spend the autumn term in their host school and then go to a second placement school during the first part of the Spring term and then return to their host school for the remainder of the year. Trainees are in school 4 days a week and attend training on the 5th day. We endeavour to keep travelling time to school to a minimum so we will take into account your home address when allocating a school. The programme covers the primary age ranges 3-7 or 5-11 and you will be teaching within one of these age ranges.

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,150

EU students

£9,150

Financial support

You’ll get a bursary of £6,000 if you have:

a degree of 2:2 or above in any subject

at least grade B in maths A-level (or an equivalent)

You don’t have to apply for a bursary - you’ll automatically start receiving it once you begin your course. Find out how you’ll be paid.

Requirements

Qualifications

A first degree at classification 2:2 or above. A first degree comprises 300 HE credits of which 60 must be at Level 6. If your degree is from a non-UK university you will need to approach NARIC to gain an equivalence certificate.

A Level or equivalent at grade B in maths

GCSEs or equivalent at grade 4 in English, maths and science

DfE Professional Skills Tests in Numeracy and Literacy

You are required to sit your first skills test within 8 weeks of being made a conditional offer and you must pass both skills tests prior to starting the programme.

Personal qualities

We are looking for high quality graduates with a passion for learning who are committed to transforming the lives of young people through education.

About the training provider

We are a Lead School for Teacher Training with 16 years experience of school based training. We work closely with our colleagues at Essex Teacher Training. We train around 15 teachers each year here and in our partner schools which are mainly in NE and Mid Essex. Schools are carefully selected so that trainees get the support they need during the training year. Each trainee will be placed with an experienced teacher, who is quite often their mentor too, and will also have the services of a Lead Mentor from St. Thomas More's as well as a Tutor from Essex Teacher Training. The schools we work with have lots of experience with ITT and many of the staff will have taken similar school based routes into teaching. St. Thomas More's is also a Teaching School and as such will offer additional training opportunities and networking. Most of our schools will employ their trainee if a post becomes available. For example, in our school, 7 of our teachers were trained in house. There will be a similar picture across our partner schools showing how much we believe in the programme!

About the accredited body

Essex Teacher Training is a large provider of ITT in the Eastern Region, offering a variety of different routes to QTS. Working with in excess of 80 schools in Essex and neighbouring counties, they provide excellent opportunities in primary, secondary and special schools. With excellent employment rates and over 95% of trainees finishing the programmes, each year, as good or outstanding, headteachers comment that trainees are well prepared for their NQT year.

Training with disabilities and other needs

We are committed to offering all prospective trainees the opportunity to gain QTS. We are able to support candidates with specific needs and this can be discussed with individuals during the application process.

Support and advice

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Register with Get into Teaching, the Department for Education’s free support and advice service, for personalised guidance from teaching experts. They can help you to prepare your application, book school experience, and access exclusive teaching events. You can also call them free on 0800 389 2500, or speak to an adviser using their online chat service, from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

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